26 comments:

It's peony season here too..I've been snapping away..Their heads are drooping in the rain today.I can't help but think this man's soul must have been so dear.I have learned more about him since your posts..and feel his sorrow..What a talented man.Carol I would have been drawn to the less formal gardens also.I can appreciate them..but I need a cottage garden for myself.Love the sketches.

No, Monets was not a 'cottage garden'.The cottage garden is a distinct style of garden that uses an informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, the cottage garden depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Homely and functional gardens connected to working-class cottages go back several centuries, but their reinvention in stylised versions grew in 1870s England, in reaction to the more structured and rigorously maintained English estate gardens that used formal designs and mass plantings of brilliant greenhouse annuals.

I was there quite awhile ago and remember a very blue kitchen with lots of tiles. Hmmm, perhaps I was remembering a different room? Now I have to go find the postcards I bought (instead of taking pictures, ahem).

A pleasant trip down memory lane! Been there, done that -- last October. Unfortunately, unlike you, I did not get to take pictures inside the home. I took some great ones outdoors in the gardens, however. Love the chat. Did you by chance get to see the fenced-in yard of chickens? :-)

Another fabulous post Carol. Love all the photos and info here. I loved seeing what we don't usually see in photos of his garden. Makes it seem more real.. like I am right there. What I wouldn't give to spend some time in that gift shop. :) You made my day! :)

Carol, you've surely chosen an especially fine time to visit Giverny. In my life, I've gone through various phases of admiring Monet, and not admiring him quite so much. And still. The chance to see this place that gave inspiration to such masterpieces, and also gave Monet a home as his amazing artist's eyes began to fail him...well, I do envy you this visit.

Your travel notes have been noted.

Your photographs have enlivened my interest in M. Monet, and I thank you so very much. No need for any gift shop, the images of that garden and the custard yellow of the house are quite enough.

Carol,another really fantastic post today. Besides the beautiful photographs, I especially loved seeing the drawing of Gare Saint Lazare. Monet was so gifted a talent;I am certain he would be amazed--and pleased--to see how he has touched all who are fortunate to enjoy his work and his home.Thank you for such a lovely getaway.

Oh Carol - this is my favorite spot in France. I've painted {discretely...) in the garden more than once....the colors do cry "Giverny and Monet!" I have a photo of the rose trees that I took several years ago with my first digital camera - a Sony Mavica - I don't think I could improve with a fancy camera, at least not as an amateur. I look forward to more Giverny posts!Jerie Artz - ARtzart

I do need to get there one day. It's the one thing I didn't get to do and always wanted to see. Thanks for the pix--I feel like I've been there thru all the books I've looked at re Giverny! peonies--they're one of my favorite spring flowers, too...

Carol,I love the carousels in Paris. Many of my photos include a carousel and lately I've been drawing, or trying to draw, the various objects on the carousel, the horses especially. My real favorite is a manually operated carousel in Passy. It is an experience from the last century to watch the children there at Jardin du Ranelagh.

Sigh. I loved that place. The kitchen and the yellow room with the Japanese art, which I really like. The cat. Sigh again. (I bought a postcard of that Hokosai cat print). I loved the chickens. Oh, I loved the whole darned thing! I'm so glad you spent some time there! Sigh again. I'm going to look at my pictures and see if I can't pretend to draw something from them worthy of painting.

Paris Letters

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5. I'm still at it, now tripping over cobblestones, living in a 6th-floor garret on l'Ile Saint-Louis, Paris. Read Parisbreakfast with a hot chocolate and croissant.
I paint Paris breakfasts.